Ravi Zacharias International Ministries has launched an investigation into allegations of misconduct against its founder.
Christianity Today reported that three women who worked as massage therapists at spas co-owned by the Christian evangelist claimed he had sexually harrassed them on multiple occassions between 2005 and 2010.
In a statement, Ravi Zacharias International Ministries has denied the allegations.
“We, the family and ministry teammates of the late Ravi Zacharias, can say the allegations now being made against Ravi do not in any way comport with the man we knew for decades – we believe them to be false,” the organisation said in a statement. “These allegations pertain to businesses that were closed nearly a decade ago. These allegations were never made during Ravi’s lifetime, but were first presented to a third party more than three months after his death.”
RZIM said it has commenced an “independent external investigation to look into this matter to the fullest extent we are able”.
“We do not intend to comment further about this matter until the investigation’s findings are presented to the executive committee of the board of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries,” the statement said. “The findings of the investigation will be reported to the ministry’s executive committee. We at RZIM remain committed to truth; it is the foundation of what we do and that has not changed.”
Zacharias – first rose to prominence in 1983 when he was invited by Billy Graham to speak at the inaugural International Conference for Itinerant Evangelists in Amsterdam and went on to found apologetics ministry Ravi Zacharias International Ministries – died in May at the age of 74.
